London Grammar is an indie-pop trio made up of Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman, and Dot Major. Described as a group made in a “post ‘The xx’” era, London Grammar defies and transcends any comparisons.

The group formed in 2009 at Nottingham University where they were attending, with Rothman studying Economics, Reid wanting to be a psychoanalyst, and Major working on his English (Dot) major. Reid and Rothman corresponded via Facebook and met up to collaborate and shortly thereafter spotted Major playing djembe in the Student Union and asked him to join. They played a few local shows and had positive feedback, but their real breakthrough was when they recorded and posted to YouTube their song “Hey Now” in 2012, which was received to much acclaim. Ministry of Sound took notice and signed them.

Metal & Dust, their first EP, was self-released in February of 2013, which included “Hey Now”, two new songs, and a remix of “Hey Now” from Dot. Proceeding to work with Ministry of Sound on their first full studio album, the trio spent the majority of 2013 in the studio. If You Wait was released in September of that year. Drawing from her studies in university, Reid said of the lyrics,

“I write about human conditions really. As clichéd as it sounds, I talk about what has affected me. Even though a lot of the lyrics are about relationships in a sense, they are more than that: they are the psychology of the human mind and how it works.“

The album was received positively, with comparisons being drawn to such groups as Massive Attack, The xx, and The National (Dot Major’s favorite group). They were instantly a hit in the U.K., peaking at #1 on the UK Independent Singles and Albums Chart, but their breakthrough stateside occurred when garage house group Disclosure collaborated with the trio on “Help Me Lose My Mind,” which was a part of the album Settle, released two months after If You Wait.

The trio’s second album called Truth Is A Beautiful Thing hit the streets in 2017, containing singles like “Rooting For You” and “Big Picture”.

Their third album, Californian Soil, released in 2021, promoted by singles such as “Baby it’s You” or “Lose Your Head”.